House divided: Parents of 4-star LB Channing Tindall put allegiances aside
August 30, 2017
Edward Dimes, a native of Augusta, Ga., grew up rooting for Georgia. His wife, Yoshiko, a Beaufort native, loves her South Carolina Gamecocks. Their son, 4-star linebacker Channing Tindall, is considering a future at both schools.
“I really try to stay out of it,” Yoshiko said. “Being a Gamecock, I don’t want him to lean my way, because it’s my way.”
The same goes for Edward’s Dawgs.
“Before we’re fans of our school, we’re fans of our son,” he said, “We want to make sure it’s a good, sound decision.”
Those two SEC East foes are hardly the only options for Tindall, a senior at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C. He’s the top-ranked outside linebacker in the Class of 2018, according to 247Sports.
Auburn, Florida and Florida State are among the other options for Tindall, who hopes to have his decision made before the end of September.
“He wants to focus on school,” Edward said. “He doesn’t want to go an entire season thinking about what school, which school.
“He wants to make a decision, but at the same time, he wants to kind of see how the schools perform one the [season] starts, to get a kind of vibe from the team and the players, some of the players that he’s met. He wants to get a vibe from them, a feel for them about the school.”
“And then the way the coaches say they’re going to use their players,” Yoshiko said. “He wants to see if they actually use their players in that way.”
The family does have a few secrets, some of which they’ve kept to themselves while visiting the schools vying for Tindall’s commitment.
“A lot of the things we don’t divulge to the school or anybody,” Yoshiko said, “Because we want to make sure that’s naturally apart – genuinely apart of the program, not someone catering to a demand that we make.”
“It’s almost like playing poker,” Edward said.
Following each visit, the family consults their rating system, to get a better evaluation.
“We base it on his criteria, for what he’s looking for in the school and then, at the same time, maybe some of the things as parents that, maybe, he’s not aware of that we’re looking for in a school,” Edward said. “You just make a spreadsheet of what colleges and across you put your criteria, then he marks it as a rating system, as far as which schools best fit what he’s looking for, to help him make a life-changing decision.”
He said, “The biggest thing is we want to make sure he’s around men of integrity, more than anything.”
Through much of the recruiting process, Tindall has listed South Carolina as his leader. With just a few weeks left in the process, the Gamecocks figure to be tough to top.
“He really likes the kinesiology program, likes [linebackers] coach [Coleman] Hutzler,” Edward said. “He’s getting a good relationship with Coach Hutzler, so he really likes Coach Hutzler and likes being close to home, so all of things are things that he likes that are pluses for him.
“But, ultimately,” he said, before Yoshiko finished his sentence, ”it’s going to be his decision.”
August 30, 2017
Edward Dimes, a native of Augusta, Ga., grew up rooting for Georgia. His wife, Yoshiko, a Beaufort native, loves her South Carolina Gamecocks. Their son, 4-star linebacker Channing Tindall, is considering a future at both schools.
“I really try to stay out of it,” Yoshiko said. “Being a Gamecock, I don’t want him to lean my way, because it’s my way.”
The same goes for Edward’s Dawgs.
“Before we’re fans of our school, we’re fans of our son,” he said, “We want to make sure it’s a good, sound decision.”
Those two SEC East foes are hardly the only options for Tindall, a senior at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, S.C. He’s the top-ranked outside linebacker in the Class of 2018, according to 247Sports.
Auburn, Florida and Florida State are among the other options for Tindall, who hopes to have his decision made before the end of September.
“He wants to focus on school,” Edward said. “He doesn’t want to go an entire season thinking about what school, which school.
“He wants to make a decision, but at the same time, he wants to kind of see how the schools perform one the [season] starts, to get a kind of vibe from the team and the players, some of the players that he’s met. He wants to get a vibe from them, a feel for them about the school.”
“And then the way the coaches say they’re going to use their players,” Yoshiko said. “He wants to see if they actually use their players in that way.”
The family does have a few secrets, some of which they’ve kept to themselves while visiting the schools vying for Tindall’s commitment.
“A lot of the things we don’t divulge to the school or anybody,” Yoshiko said, “Because we want to make sure that’s naturally apart – genuinely apart of the program, not someone catering to a demand that we make.”
“It’s almost like playing poker,” Edward said.
Following each visit, the family consults their rating system, to get a better evaluation.
“We base it on his criteria, for what he’s looking for in the school and then, at the same time, maybe some of the things as parents that, maybe, he’s not aware of that we’re looking for in a school,” Edward said. “You just make a spreadsheet of what colleges and across you put your criteria, then he marks it as a rating system, as far as which schools best fit what he’s looking for, to help him make a life-changing decision.”
He said, “The biggest thing is we want to make sure he’s around men of integrity, more than anything.”
Through much of the recruiting process, Tindall has listed South Carolina as his leader. With just a few weeks left in the process, the Gamecocks figure to be tough to top.
“He really likes the kinesiology program, likes [linebackers] coach [Coleman] Hutzler,” Edward said. “He’s getting a good relationship with Coach Hutzler, so he really likes Coach Hutzler and likes being close to home, so all of things are things that he likes that are pluses for him.
“But, ultimately,” he said, before Yoshiko finished his sentence, ”it’s going to be his decision.”